MetLife drives insurers, financials to gains

GregMorcroft

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — MetLife Inc. moved into the top spot among rising financial stocks on Wednesday, a day after the passage of tax and spending legislation that prevented more severe belt-tightening measures from going into effect.

In a note on the insurance sector published Wednesday, analysts at Sandler O’Neill told clients, “Following a year in which many property casualty insurers outperformed the S&P 500, we are cautiously optimistic on the sector as we enter the new year. Among the positives we enter 2013 with valuations for the sector largely trading at a discount to book value.”

Markets rally on fiscal cliff deal

(3:58)

Stocks surges on the first day of the trading year after Congress passed a bill averting the worst of the fiscal cliff, Steven Russolillo reports on Markets Hub.

Financial components in the S&P 500 index, which are tracked by the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF
XLF, -0.60%
rose 2.4% on the first trading day of the new year. Financial stocks in the S&P 500 rallied 26% last year, the best-performing of the index’s 10 sub-sectors.

Late Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved emergency bipartisan legislation that keeps sharply increased taxes at bay for all but a small slice of the nation’s wealthiest.

Bank of America Corp.
BAC, -0.30%
retreated a bit from earlier gains, but still rose more than 3% in afternoon trade after analysts at Evercore Partners added the blue chip to their conviction buy list and said Bank of Amerca was their top pick for the large-cap banking sector.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.